Saturday, May 5, 2007

One Back, Two Forward

With completion of the internet install today, setup of the new house is essentially finished. The long days carrying boxes and climbing stairs have created the following problems:

1. My peak strength is gone2. My body is the tightest it has been in months3. I have severe sleep debt

Essentially there is no hope of continuing my old cycle. It would be foolish to try. I have 2 weeks before my office moves that will require me to make a 1.5-2 hour commute into and out of the city twice a week. Those days will be shot for training and will likely interfere with exercise the following day. Rather than enter into a new cycle now, I'm going to do random full body kettlebell workouts 2-3x a week, filling in the gaps with a heavy focus on mobility work and soft tissue therapy.

In the back of my head I am thinking about my test day at 207lbs. Bodyweight hit 211 this morning. I think there is a good chance that between the change in exercise stimulus and the new environment, another 4lbs will drop off over the next two weeks. If I spend that time practicing kettlebell work, I will be in a great position to knock off a number of the 1/3 BW KB goals on my test day.

I should be in an excellent position to initiate a new cycle after my test day. As much as I enjoy just doing the kettlebell stuff, I need to pick up a heavy barbell once in awhile to maintain strength as I drop weight. It is quite possible I will return to a program very similar to the one I was using at World Gym. It fits my schedule well, works, and I enjoy it. What more could I ask for?

I certainly have the tools to succeed. Here is the photo tour of the gym:

I've since topped the table with a TV connected to a PS2 and my old MP3 player. I've got DVDs, music, and DDR. Friday night a chair was added. In two weeks I'll go pick up another stall matt and expand the matted area from 4'x6' to 6'x8'. That will be perfect for barbell work from the floor, as well as some of the more dynamic kettlebell movements. Things are coming together.